Every year, on the same day, another one appeared: a black dahlia.
She had almost run out of space to put them around her villa.
Each year the perennials re-sprouted, a forest of dark bloomage that shrouded her white walls.
The shadow they cast she could not escape. The blackness in her heart was embodied in their display. She kept them as a reminder.
Someone knew what she had done.
She opened the door and saw the new arrival. This one was red, the same colour as the blood on her hands.
The gunshot echoed around the white walls.
Written as part of the Friday Fictioneers challenge hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields (more details HERE). The idea is to write a short story of 100 words based on the photo prompt (above).
To read stories of 100 words based on this week’s prompt, visit HERE.
My first novel, ‘A Justified State,’ is available now
I love the device of strange knowing gifts
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Neil
LikeLike
All it takes is one plum unwelcome symbol to trigger an equally unwelcome flashback~
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Larry
LikeLiked by 1 person
It reminds me of “I Know What You Did Last Summer”.
Great concept here.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you
LikeLike
Great post Iain.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Di
LikeLike
Awesome. No matter what she’s done, it must be hell to live like that, in the shadow of consequences yet to come. Perhaps she was relieved that this flower was red.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Interesting that it may have been a relief to her, I like that reading of it, thank you 🙂
LikeLike
Sounds like someone got their revenge!
LikeLiked by 1 person
After a long wait, must be a patient person 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dear Iain,
Great use of color in this piece. Hmm…is it the source of the photo that sends us in a homicidal direction?
Shalom,
Rochelle
LikeLiked by 3 people
Hey!
LikeLiked by 5 people
Yes, it most definitely is! 🙂
LikeLike
There’s usually someone who knows. A well-executed tale Iain.
LikeLiked by 1 person
There’s always one. Thanks Keith.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Creepy story! The Black Dahlia is still unsolved, too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yep, James Ellroy fan here, and just got his new book to read too.
LikeLike
Intriguing piece, Iain.
Guess she was a bad lady.
LikeLiked by 1 person
She must have done something. I didn’t like to ask.
LikeLike
Ooh! This is chilling. 😱
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, that was the intention!
LikeLiked by 1 person
👍👌
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sounds like she finally snapped. Assuming of course that she shot herself and wasn’t polished off by her stalker.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Could be taken either way.
LikeLike
Oh no …
No more black dahlias in THIS location but I have me a feeling they’ll begin arriving at another’s place …
LikeLiked by 1 person
Could be a serial offender, you think? Maybe!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I donnow, but I don’t like them, whomever they are …
LikeLiked by 1 person
They certainly have a violent streak
LikeLiked by 1 person
The end could go either ways. Loved this, Kelly
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much Neel
LikeLike
Good plot, with an intriguingly ambiguous ending. Did the messenger shoot her for revenge? – your title suggests so. Or she could have shot herself through guilt; that too fits the title. Or maybe she shot the messenger, to get him to stop messing with colour scheme of her garden!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha, true angry at the red flower! 🙂 Thanks Penny
LikeLike
Reads like a film noir, Iain. Great use of colors.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much
LikeLike
Great story, Iain, with an ambiguous ending.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much
LikeLike
You’ve given us plenty of room to surmise our own conclusions. Well done, Iain.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Russell
LikeLike
I would thik after all those years of dread the shot will have come as a relief. Great story.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It may well have done. Thanks Liz
LikeLike
Iain, really great stuff, she’s being watched by someone, love it
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you
LikeLike
Revenge or suicide…either way the story is great!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you DB, I will let you decide the ending 🙂
LikeLike
Such an interesting tale, Ian. I love the ambiguous ending.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much
LikeLike
Well, this one really makes us think: I’m still trying to figure out if I like it better thinking she killed herself or thinking the bearer of the red dahlia did her in. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Sandra 🙂
LikeLike
Well done. I think the red dahlia made her snap.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Sascha
LikeLiked by 1 person
it looks like karma has finally caught up with her.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you
LikeLiked by 1 person
Does Nature know what she did, or did feelings of guilt finally get the better of her? Nice one!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you – could be many ways this ended.
LikeLiked by 1 person
She must have been afraid for ages. It seems she had a right to be. A good mystery thriller, Iain. Well written. —- Suzanne
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Suzanne
LikeLike
Beautifully plotted, with the slow reveal that these flowers are like ravens, signifying doom not pretty floral gifts. Well done.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much
LikeLike
You reap what you sow. At last she had got her due in a red dahlia.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It seems like it. Thank you
LikeLike
I love this one! Great tension and use of color. Someone very patiently tormented her until their revenge was meted out.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Brenda 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Blood on her hands, finally revenged. The killer was a patient stalker. Great tension here.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Linda. Being patient is a good skill for a stalker to have.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Damn, that’s a long game for revenge. Well played.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Revenge is best served that way 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Such a pretty home with dark secrets in and out.
I found it intriguing enough to want to continue reading, Iain.
Isadora 😎
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Dawn, I assuming it’s a good ‘wow’!
LikeLiked by 1 person
And yet, you seem like such a mild-mannered man… this is a dark side of you!
And funny, I watched the series “I Am the Night” just a couple months about the Black Dahlia…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Dale. I’m a firm believer that everyone has a dark side lurking there – in general, the nicer someone seems, the darker their dark side will be! 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Here’s to skeletons in the closet. They will get you one way or another. 🙂👍
LikeLiked by 1 person
They make for good stories too!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oooooo someone knows the truth. Well told and very creepy with mysterious gifts appearing
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Laurie
LikeLike
There is a terrible sense of torment in this, revenge delivered in a slow drip – not knowing exactly when. Hellish. I liked the tension.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you James, hope the new book is going well.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Iain, slow start with the book, still trying solve the market hype.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The anonymous flower giver certainly wanted to prolong her suffering, with all those black dahlias. A very original idea, and a gripping story. Like other commenters, I love the ambiguity of the ending.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much Margaret 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well done, Iain. Beautifully written and you used the image of the black dahlia to great effect.
Best wishes,
Rowena
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Rowena
LikeLike
Powerful imagery in this “bite-sized” thriller!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you
LikeLiked by 1 person
Given the title, I think she shot herself. Grisly tale, full of mystery and symbolism.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you – seems to be a 50/50 split on what may have happened in the end!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Clicked the like button after the first line. Brilliant story, Iain. Justice was self-served in the end.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much Fatima 🙂
LikeLike
Nature has a way of reminding her of her black/dark deeds. what goes around comes around.
https://ideasolsi65.blogspot.com/2019/06/property.html
LikeLiked by 1 person
There’s no escaping your past. Thank you
LikeLike
Thank you
LikeLike
Probably dusting off the old revolver and practicing her shooting skills. Someone’s identity best remain a secret.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for reading
LikeLike